Berwyn wreck
Every contract I try and cross something off my list of ‘cool things I have done’. Sometimes in the most unexpected ways.
I’ve been on a few ships that have called in Barbados, but in all those times I’ve never managed to get out to the Boatyard resteraunt & Beach Bar. Apparently, years ago it was pretty wild but now it’s just…cool. I mean, it’s a resteraunt on the beach, with drinks, food and umbrellas all included in the entrance fee, with floating trampolines! And a rope swing! Big giant rope swing…wheeee!
I didn’t get a chance to go on the rope swing (boo).
But there was something else avialable that I didn’t even think of: snorkeling tours.
For $5 extra we could go and see turtles! Unfortunately, once we got there, there were a few too many of us (okay a lot too many of us) and the turtles – being smart creatures – glided on their merry way. I did however get to see one, just before we pulled away from the snorkeling site, and Amras managed to get a picture of one for me. So I can check “see giant sea turtles” off my bucket list.
And the second stop on the snorkeling list? The remains of the military French tug boat Berwyn. I actually swam over a shipwreck. Some of you will know how big a deal this is for me; shipwrecks have made me uneasy since long before I worked on a ship. At first it was…more than a little unsettling. There was a moment when I very nearly turned back; at the very least I popped my head above the surface and took a few deep breaths before readjusting my snorkel mask and looking down. My stomach stayed in knots for the first few minutes, and for a little while I could only take quick glances out of the corner of my eye. You see, the wreck kind of comes out of nowhere, despite the water being completely clear, it just kind of comes up on you all at once. I wasn’t completely ready for that. Definitely threw me off balance for a little bit. Once I got past the initial shock, it was fascinating to look at.
The Berwyn was apparently scuttled by her own crew near the end of WWI because they didn’t want to leave the island. Apparently they “sank the ship, and went back to the island for more rum!”. She sits upright and intact in 21 feet of water, and is , at her highest point, only 11 feet below the surface. The water is so clear that it looks as though you could reach out and brush the eroding iron with a fingertip. But they were very careful to tell us not to dive down too close, as apparently it’s easy to find your way into the ship, but not easy to find your way out. Not wanting to find myself swimming permanently with the tropical fish, I stayed on the surface.
It’s so interesting to be able to look down and see so much life coming from the seeds of destruction. The ship still looks like a ship, but it’s now coated in layers of coral and home to hundreds of darting shining fish that seem to all think as one as they dash about below you. I could have quite contentedly floated there for ages. It’s hard to really describe what it felt like, and while I have an underwater camera, the pictures don’t do it justice.
I didn’t want to leave.
Salt water fixes absolutely everything. I am convinced of this more every time. I came away from today feeling…better. Better all over. More grounded, more clean, more balanced, just…better.
Life is good today…